|
For the past 21 years, The Filipino Express has provided the Filipino American community the best news, arts and entertainment coverage from around the United States and the Philippines.
|
|
This website includes selected articles from this week's edition of the Filipino Express. Not all the stories published in the printed version appear on this site.
|
|
|
|
To tell us what you think about Filipino Express Online or to comment on the stories published here, E-mail us at Filexpress@aol.com
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
NEW YORK—Hundreds of people passing by the Philippine consulate during last Friday's rush-hour heard the voice of Marichu Baoanan projected up and down Fifth Avenue, as she recounted her story of being deceived into modern-slavery in the household of former UN Ambassador Lauro Baja.
"What I want to say to people like me who were oppressed or will be oppressed: don't be afraid to speak out or to come out in the open," said Marichu. "Let us fight for our rights. We are not alone. We need to face people who abuse us and our weaknesses because if we do not speak up, they will continue to abuse us."
Last July 15, Baja filed a motion to dismiss all 15 civil charges, including trafficking, forced labor and racketeering, brought against him, his wife Norma Baja, their adult daughter Maria "Beth" Facundo and the Baja-owned Labaire Travel Agency. Baja has invoked the Vienna Convention and is seeking the shelter of diplomatic immunity.
In front of the consulate, over sixty community members and allies held hand-painted banners and placards demanding accountability not immunity, and an end to modern-day slavery. They also distributed flyers and newsletters, and gathered signatures for a petition demanding that Baja be held accountable by RP's Department of Foreign Affairs, the body ultimately responsible for Baja.
Though public cries have been made to waive Baja's diplomatic immunity from within Philippine Congress, by Congresswoman Liza Maza, neither the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), the Philippine Consulate Mission in New York, nor the Philippine Mission to the UN in New York—Baja's former post—has taken action on Marichu's case, though they have publicly claimed that they do not tolerate trafficking and abuse.
Before the action last Friday, Marichu and DAMAYAN met with officials of the Philippine consulate and submitted a letter to the DFA, the Philippine Mission to the UN, and the Philippine Consulate General to formally request for assistance as a Filipina overseas national.
"I am appealing to all of you to waive the diplomatic immunity that is being sought…" Marichu states in her letter. "I am an ordinary Filipino citizen, a struggling mother with three children but I had to file the civil suit against former Ambassador Baja to get justice for the abuses and sufferings that I endured… If Ambassador Baja believes that he did nothing wrong, he should have the opportunity to present his case in a court of law."
DAMAYAN has stated that a lack of action by agencies responsible for the welfare of overseas Filipinos signals approval and complicity.
"The shelter of diplomatic immunity in this case must be waived in order to allow the pursuit of justice to continue," said one worker who delivered a statement at the speak-out on behalf of DAMAYAN. "Many predatory employers, especially diplomats who are supposed to protect overseas compatriots, are allowed to exploit their vulnerabilities and walk away without facing consequences."
"This happened here, in the US?" asked one passerby in disbelief. Two other tourists remarked that they had heard the story in Spain. Seven weeks after the civil case was filed by Marichu and her lawyers, Ivy Suriyopas of Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) and Aaron Mendolsohn of Troutman Sanders, the campaign has made international news and gained international support.
The speak-out came on the heels of a report issued by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) last July 29, 2008, which revealed a larger pattern of the abuse of domestic workers by diplomats with immunity.
One domestic worker, of Andolan Organizing South Asian Workers, testified at the speak-out about her two years of work for a former diplomat, who paid her $40 per month. According to the worker, that entire amount was sent directly to her family abroad, and she never laid eyes on American money for two years.
According to the DAMAYAN statement at the speakout, the Arroyo regime in the Philippines remains silent on reports of abuses of Filipino women migrant workers from all over the world. A corrupt government bureaucracy with no accountability—of which Baja is part—remains a legacy of the Philippines that Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo preserves.
Vowing to support the Justice for Marichu campaign, the following organizations attended and/or gave statements of solidarity: Ugnayan ng mga Anak ng Bayan (Linking the Children of the Motherland), Gabriela Network, the Alliance for a Just and Lasting Peace in the Philippines, the ANSWER Coalition, CAAAV's Women Workers Project, Domestic Workers United, Andolan Organizing South Asian Communities, Adhikaar for Human Rights, and the Socialist Part of USA-NY.
DAMAYAN Migrant Workers Association will continue the campaign to demand justice for Marichu and all domestic workers in the fight against trafficking, forced labor and exploitation. DAMAYAN has released a campaign video, which is available for viewing at: http://www.youtube.com/ user/damayanmigrantworker.
For campaign updates, please visit: http://endtrafficking. blogspot.com. To sign the petition demanding that Baja be held accountable by the Philippine government, please visit: http://www.gopetition.com/ petitions/justice-for-marichuend- trafficking/sign.html.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
CHICAGO– A Filipino American running for U. S. Congress may yet save the day for the Filipino Veterans bill pending before the U.S. Congress.
Ohio State Senator Stephen C. Austria is running for U.S. Congress under the Republican Party for the open seat of the 7th District in Ohio.
He will be in the best position to lobby at least 39 U.S. Republican members of the House of Representatives into voting for passage of Senate Bill 1315 in the House. Part of the bill grants full benefits for non service disability pensions to Filipino World War II veterans.
Senator Austria’s father, the late Dr. Clement G. Austria, was a “guerilla under (American) Gen. Douglas MacArthur while studying medicine at the University of Santo Tomas,” that was turned into prison camp by the Japanese Invading Forces during World War II.
In an email to this reporter, Senator Austria’s wife, Eileen, quoted her mother-in law, Jean Brockman Austria, as saying that her father-in-law was born in Tiaong, Quezon in the Philippines.
When he was still very young, Steve went to the Philippines three times in 1960 and 1961 and spent six weeks in the Philippines shortly after graduating from high school. Steve’s folks wanted him to stay for good in the Philippines but his mother prevailed upon him to come back to the United States.
Your “Dad graduated from Santo Tomas Medical School and fought with guerilla under U.S. Army General McArthur … they would stop school to help Americans --- then return to school,” according to Eileen Austria’s email to this reporter.
Armin M. Sayson, President, Philippine-American Society of Greater Dayton (Ohio), provided this reporter a brief bio-data of Steve Austria given to him by Steve’s wife, Eileen.
Eileen Austria said Stephen Clement Austria was born in 1958 in Cincinnati, Ohio. His parents are Jean Brockman Austria of Cincinnati and the late Dr. Clement G. Austria who was born in the Philippines and came to Cincinnati, Ohio to attend Medical School.
“Jean was a nurse and he was a doctor and that is how they met,” Sayson said. Steve is the eldest of nine children - all of whom have graduated from Catholic universities or colleges with their bachelor's degrees and several graduating from medical, dental or optometry schools.
Steve graduated from Marquette University in 1981 with a degree in Political Science. Marquette is a Catholic, Jesuit university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
After graduation, Steve worked in politics for a couple of years before turning his professional interests in becoming a Financial Planner with the American Express Company for nearly 16 years.
When public service called, Steve successfully ran for state representative in Ohio in 1998, moving up to the Ohio Senate in 2000 and being reelected again in 2004.
The family of Dr. Clement Austria was named one of the top 10 families of the year in the nation and was honored at the Reagan White House in 1985. Dr. Austria was a community leader and died unexpectedly at the age of 62 in November 1986.
Senator Steve Austria currently represents Ohio's 10th Senate District, which includes approximately 375,000 people and covers all of Clark, Greene, and Madison Counties.
Steve and his wife, Eileen, have three sons, Brian, Kevin and Eric.
Brad Mascho, Campaign Manager for Steve Austria for U.S. Congress, said Senator Steve Austria is currently the Majority Whip of the Ohio Senate. He is seeking election to the U.S. House of Representatives this coming November to Ohio’s 7th Congressional District, currently held by Congressman Dave Hobson, who announced his retirement late last year and has strongly endorsed Senator Austria’s election.
According to the Los Angeles, California-based Asian Journal, African American Congressman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-VA-03) is the only member of the U.S. House of Representatives to claim Filipino parentage. His mother is a daughter of a Filipino, Valentin Cortez Hamlin. (lariosa_jos@ sbcglobal.net)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Many Illegal Aliens Heard The New Self-Deportation Program,
But Only Few Will Listen
|
|
|
|
NEW YORK– “You have to be out of your mind to turn yourself in for deportation,” said John X, an illegal alien who overstayed his student visa in 2002 and is now living under the shadows of American society. He works for cash and lives with relatives who are legal residents of the country. His meager, under-the-table job allows him to send much needed money to his parents back in the Philippines for his other sibling’s education and livelihood. “There is no way I will end my American dream,” John added.
John’s reaction is not surprising at all. Eight out of ten illegal immigrants share John’s sentiments about the recent initiative by the Bush administration to encourage illegal aliens to come out of hiding and turn themselves in to Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to avoid arrest and jail time.
“Until we have exhausted all the possibilities for us to be legalized, we will not go back,” said Marcelo V, who came to the US illegally 10 years ago from Mexico. “If I turn myself in, it is like abandoning the welfare of my children.”
The ICE announced weeks ago that they are trying a new program called “Scheduled Departure” in several American cities: Santa Ana, San Diego, Chicago, Phoenix, and Charlotte. The agency said that the program could be expanded nationwide if successful in the trial areas.
The idea of the program is to grant illegal aliens 90 days to get their affairs in order and save them the humiliation and trauma of getting their homes raided or themselves arrested for being in the country illegally. In other words, the government is suggesting a decent exit plan for illegal immigrants. The program however, made it clear that the offer is for ‘fugitives’ – illegal immigrants who are ignoring deportation orders after being caught.
According to Jim Reyes, an immigrant advocate, the program will hardly succeed given its present form: “The Scheduled Departure Program that the ICE promises to give fugitive aliens would rather be counterintuitive particularly to those who believe that they were not well apprised of the proceedings that they had undertaken including the consequences of evading the honorable order of the independent Immigration Court, not to mention those who feel that they were ineffectively represented and defended before the Immigration Judge. Besides, said fugitive aliens, in all probability, had already previously expected the same type of package by ICE when they were notified of the Court’s order and yet they opted to be fugitives of law.
“Unless, the government gives away something in the form of incentives, I am afraid the program will fall short of achieving its noble goal,” Reyes added,
The odds may seem to be against the ICE, however, some officials expressed optimism with the program. Robert Alfieri, supervisory deportations officer in Charlotte said: "For anyone to say no one will do it, that's absolutely wrong."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
